The communities behind ICAC: Bylong Valley

By Liesel Rickarby

As the country watches the drama of the corruption inquiry into the conduct of former NSW Labor ministers, the glare of the spotlight is focussed on the ICAC courtroom, but for the Hunter communities at the centre of the ICAC allegations relating to the granting of mining exploration licences, their lives have been turned upside down by both the inquiry and the mining projects themselves.

The allegations at the centre of the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) inquiry have been described as alleged corruption "on a scale probably unexceeded since the days of the Rum Corps".

In front of packed public galleries, played out on news bulletins and splashed across front pages, the ongoing ICAC inquiry has aired explosive allegations about the former NSW mining minister Ian McDonald, former Labor powerbroker Eddie Obeid and several of their associates, in relation to alleged irregularities in the granting of exploration licences for coal mining developments in the Hunter Region.

Since Operation Jasper began looking at the granting of a mining licence in the Bylong Valley by then mining minister Ian McDonald to Cascade Coal on land owned by the Obeid family and his friends and associates, the Bylong community have been received more attention than they ever thought their quiet valley would attract.

For many Bylong residents the ICAC inquiry has meant trips to Sydney, calls to give evidence and a never-ending parade of journalists past the gates of Eddie Obeid's Cherrydale Park property.

For a community where the village population is two and the village itself consists of not much more than the general store it's been a lot to take.

General store owner Jodie Nancarrow says she's tired of all the attention, but she doesn't wish the inquiry hadn't happened.

"I don't wish it would all go away. I hope that if people did the wrong thing then justice is served."

As one of the witnesses called before the ICAC, Ms Nancarrow gave evidence about an interaction she had with Justin Lewis, a friend and associate of Moses Obeid who purchased one of the properties which would go on to be covered by the Mount Penny mining lease.

Ms Nancarrow described for ICAC an unusual phone call she said she received from Mr Lewis. She told the inquiry that Mr Lewis called her store and asked her if she could help him locate his property on Google Earth.

Mr Lewis told the ICAC that Obeid family members told him there was coal on his farm, Coggan Creek, before he bought it and admitted he had rarely visited the property.

Ms Nancarrow said that giving evidence made her feel like a "fish out of water".

"To get called in front of ICAC is nerve-wracking, it's the unknown."

She said her real concern is mining in valley, which looks set to continue despite the attention drawn by the inquiry, with much of the valley covered by a mining lease unrelated to the Mount Penny project.

Upper Bylong farmer Stuart Andrews echoed her concerns about mining, and said he has been "absolutely disgusted" by the allegations relating to the Mount Penny mine. "For me, it made me think, well, something has to be done about this".